MARKET SPOTLIGHT | Southwest Florida Industrial Market

Southwest Florida's industrial market, much like its larger counterpart — the Interstate 4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando — has rebounded significantly and consistently since the end of the recession.

Vacancy has fallen from a high of 13.8% in 2009 in Collier, Charlotte and Lee counties, to 3.1% — a decade low — at the close of the third quarter of this year.

Curiously, rental rates remain lower today than at the end of 2006, when they averaged $9.65 per square foot in the three counties. Today's average rental rate, too, is just 74 cents higher than in 2009, what was considered the nadir of the market.